eugenidesfandomcom-20200213-history
Eugenides (Thief of Eddis, King of Attolia)
Eugenides is the former Thief of Eddis, and the main character of the'' Queen's Thief'' series. He has very skilled thieving abilities, similar to the Eddisian deity of thieves - his patron god and name sake. His given name, Eugenides, means "the well-born" and exists also as a title refering to his status as the Thief of Eddis, as it is also the name of the God of Thieves. Those close to him call him by his nickname, Gen. He eventually marries Attolia Irene and reluctantly becomes the king of Attolia. Though initially mistaken as a street urchin, he is actually recognized as a member of the royal family of Eddis; he is a cousin of Eddis Helen, the queen of Eddis, and his father is Eddis's minister of war. Story 'Childhood and Early Years' Most details concerning Eugenides' childhood are unknown, though there are a few facts that the books mention. Eugenides was born in the mountain country of Eddis. His father is the minister of war for Eddis, admired by most of his male cousins, and his mother was the daughter of the Thief of Eddis. Eugenides has two older brothers; Temenus, a soldier mentioned to have broken the queen of Eddis's nose with a practice sword when they were both eleven, and Stenides, a watchmaker, as well as sisters who married well and became (mostly) honest housewives. As a young boy, Eugenides was known to go around causing mischief, frequently fighting with his multiple male cousins. The cousins were known to make Eugenides's life horrible at times, both arguing verbally and physically fighting with him. He frequently retreated to the library to nurse his wounds, where his cousin, the queen of Eddis, eventually allowed him to reside permanently. One of the primary reasons for this teasing was his name and his grandfather's growing interest in him, as his maternal grandfather was the former Thief of Eddis. Because of his grandfather's interest in developing Eugenides's potential skills as a thief, Gen traveled with him to various places that the Thief would need to be familiar with, including the royal Megaron of Attolia. As a result, when he is still a relatively young boy, Eugenides first sees the future queen of Attolia as she dances in the kitchen garden, under the orange trees. He continues to return secretly to Attolia to watch her, fascinated by her beauty and her loneliness. His mother, also a thief, slips and falls out of a window after dancing on the palace roof and dies when Eugenides is ten years old. After this he gets into more and more fights with both his father (refusing to enter the Eddisian army, tearing up his enlistment papers and informing him that he intends to the Thief of Eddis) and his cousins, and Eddis eventually moves him into a separate room in the library. Eugenides soon develops a sense of scholarship not uncommon among the Thieves of Eddis, due to his extensive amount of time in the library, a habit that carries over into early adulthood. 'The Thief' At the beginning of the ''The Thief'', Gen has been incarcerated in a Sounisian prison for some time after bragging about stealing the King of Sounis's royal seal in a wine shop. The Magus of Sounis frees him under the proposition that Eugenides steals a certain artifact for him, though the Magus refuses to disclose what the artifact is. Gen accepts and joins the Magus, along with his two apprentices, Ambiades and Sophos, and a soldier, Pol. As they are traveling and rarely stopping, Gen becomes known for complaining often. Throughout the journey the magus asks Eugenides about details of the Eddisan legends. Eugenides knows more about them then the average Eddisan do to his extensive reading, but despite this the magus scoffs the stories, despite being interested, as twisted village versions. Soon Eugenides learns that the magus wants him to steal the legendary Hamiathes's Gift . A small stone that protects the wearer from death and gives them the right to rule the country of Eddis. The magus wants it to give to his King so that Eddis will be forced to marry him. The union would double the size of Sounis and automatically give control of Eddis to Sounis. Eugenides appears unconcered by this revelation, saying that he doesn't mind. Eugenides doubts the stone's existence however but decides to see if he can steal it anyway. The magus leads the group through Eddis and across the Attolian dystopia, to a temple built into the bed of the Aracthus river; the temple is only accessible for a few days during the summer when Eddis closes the gates of the reservoir upriver. Eugenides enters and fails twice. On the last try he manages to reach the area where the Gift is kept. In the room are life sized sculptures of the gods. Eugenides at once feels strange power from the room and when he is about to grab the gift the gods come to life and warn him. Eugenides doesn't turn around but hears the voice of his patron god The God of Thieves Eugenides, whom Eugenides the mortal is named after. After the gods return to statues Eugenides the hastily grabs the Gift and runs out he barely makes it out alive and when asked if he has the gift slowy and shakily pulls it out, much to the magus's delight. After this incident there is an obvious change in the magus's disposition towards Eugenides. The group is attacked by an Attolian garrison, where in the struggle the Magus apparently loses the Gift. Soon after they hear another garrison, this time with horses coming after them. Eugenides volunteers to try and slow them down and the others go to the top of cliff and watch as Eugenides turns an organized attack into a quagmire of madness. This time the magus doesn't miss Eugenides extraordinary skills with the sword. However Eugenides is outnumbered and is soon stabbed and falls unconsious. When he awakes he is in an Attolian prison with Sophos and the magus who explains that they were soon ambushed by another garrison. The magus said that then Ambiades begins to laugh and the other three realize that he had been with the Attolians the entire time. Pol in a fit of rage tackles Ambiades and both fall off the cliff to their deaths. The magus then apologizes to Eugenides saying that he'll do what he can to try and get Eugenides out of the mess. When the queen of Attolia approaches Gen with the offer to become her Thief, Eugenides apologizes, refusing the offer with the famous reply that though Attolia is more beautiful, Eddis is more kind. Gen, the magus, and Sophos manage to escape the prison and barely make it past the Eddis-Attolia border. They are greeted by a group of Eddis soldiers conveniently stationed at the border. When the queen of Eddis meets the group of travelers, revealing them to be the magus, a nephew of the king of Sounis and a thief, Gen reaches into the base of his braided hair and pulls out Hamiathes's Gift. Gen reveals himself to the Queen's Thief and the truth of who is he really is to the magus and Sophos as they recover from their injuries. After the magus and Sophos return to Sounis, Eddis suggests that Gen write a book of his adventures on the journey for the Gift. Eugenides reflects on the events and reluctantly concurs; the product is a book called ''The Thief''. 'The Queen of Attolia' The Queen of Attolia begins with Eugenides getting captured by Attolia's guards after many attempts. While she initially intends to hang him for causing her to lose face for stealing Hamiathes's Gift and continuing to sneak into her palace and escaping, the Mede Ambassador Nahuseresh subtly convinces her to execute a crueler punishment. The Queen of Attolia complies and elects to cut off Eugenides's right hand before sending him back to Eddis. For maiming her Thief, the Queen of Eddis retaliates in response, which results in a difficult war between Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis. While Eugenides, broken and reclusive, realizes at last that Eddis has been at war for his sake, he is moved by Eddis's words to help her by stealing what cannot normally be stolen with two hands, much less one. In bold and conspiratory plans, he steals the Magus of Sounis and the Queen of Attolia in order to ensure peace for Eddis without being conquered by Sounis or Attolia. However, his plan to steal Attolia comes with an additional ulterior motive - having fallen in love with her, he seeks to marry her and become the king of Attolia for her sake. 'The King of Attolia' The King of Attolia is mainly in the point of view of a solidier of The Guard, Costis. When Costis is outraged when Gen insults the captain of The Guard Teleus, Costis punches the king, Gen. Costis expecting to be executed is pardoned, but is forced to be a confidant of the king. Costis finds the king to be annoying and obnoxious, yet after a while he has sympathy for Gen when he sees that the king is crying, while staring in the direction of his hometown, Eddis. When Costis hears of the king's assasination by Sejanus, the son of important and dangerous baron, Costis starts to worry of the king. He finds the king unharmed, yet some moments later the attacker attack and in the process the king is wounded. Gen is rushed to his quarters and finds that is wound is life-threatining. After some time Gen heals and returns to normal duties. While the king was hospitalized one of the soldiers puts a poison in the king's lethium, a pain killer and sleep potion. The king frames Sejanus and his brother, Dite. Sejanus does not realize he is being framed and acts like he did it to protect his brother, who is simple-minded man and in love with the queen. In the end the king admits putting the poison in the lethium to frame Sejanus and Dite. Sejanus is still arrested for harasment of the king, since earlier in the book it is told that Sejanus had help plot many pranks on the king. Dite is banished for creating a silly song of the king on his wedding day, yet the king has compassion and lets Dite study with a great music master, since Dite is known for his music. Gen had planned this the whole time so that he could bring down the household of Baron Erondites, the father of Sejanus and Dite. Without a proper heir the baron is stuck with no heir. At the end it is told that the squad of Sejanus had been challenged by Gen in a wooden sword fight during practice. He says to each person before Gen starts that if they beat him the queen will not reduce The Guard, but if they lose to him the queen will reduce the Guard. Gen goes one by one beating them all, until the last, Laecdomon, the powerful and beatiful soldier almost has him. Just as he strikes the king grabs the sword and disarms Laecdomon, exclaiming that he must remeber it is a wooden sword. In the end all the soilders say their loyalty to the king, even Teleus the captain admits this. 'A Conspiracy of Kings' Age Eugenides's age is never specified in the books, but based on a few facts his general age can be inferred. Eugendies was ten in the Thief! short-story printed in'' Disney Adventures'' magazine. In this story, Helen's brothers have just died; but her father is still alive, meaning Thief! takes place just a few short months before she becomes queen. It is specified in the Eddis short-story, published in The King of Attolia paperback, that Helen is five years older then Eugenides, (about fifteen years old in the story Thief!). That would make her fifteen or sixteen when she became queen. In The Thief it is stated that she has been ruling Eddis for five years thus making Eugenides 14-15 from the time he entered the prison in the first book till the time he completes his mission at 15. In The Queen of Attolia, it is mentioned that Helen has been queen for seven years. Therefore she is approximately twenty-two in the middle of The Queen of Attolia, and Eugenides is seventeen. The following ages can be approximated: The Thief: 15 The Queen of Attolia: 16 or 17 (beginning) - 17 or 18 (ending) The King of Attolia: 18 or 19 Abilities Eugenides' skills as a thief are, of course, pivotal to all four books. He can, as he claims in book 1, "steal anything." Along with this are practical skills such as a working knowledge of the architecture of the palaces of Sounis and Attolia, the ability to pick locks with either hand, and incredible agility, as he climbs walls and runs (and jumps) across rooftops. Eugenides' primary ability is his incredible intelligence, notably his excellent grasp of strategic planning. Throughout the series he plans and carries out plans that span months and rely on his continually acting a part. This is seen most notably in The Thief, in which he hides his Eddisian origin and his true skill level in order to steal Hamiathes' Gift for Eddis. He carries this still further in The King of Attolia in order to fool the Attolian Court into underestimating him, giving him the chance to destroy the House of Erondites, which is the greatest threat to the security of the Attolian throne. He is also a gifted people-reader, and though he didn't always pick his fights wisely in his youth, he matures over the series and grows significantly in his ability to manipulate those around him to further his plans, as well as in his ability to read situations and talk his way out of trouble. He is also considered to be something of a scholar, a rarity in Eddis (as noted in The Queen of Attolia). Eugenides, despite his pacifistic nature, is also one of the most skilled swordsmen in the series. He was trained by his father, both during his childhood and again after his hand is cut off. In The Queen of Attolia, his father notes that Eugenides could have been a truly great swordsman and soldier if he had wanted to, as he has the concentration for it. Until his loses his hand, however, he lacks the motivation to truly perfect the art. Once he has begun recovering, however, he takes up sword-fighting again, and continues this after he becomes the king of Attolia by practicing with the Eddisian ambassador to Attolia, Ornon. At the age of 15, he defeats multiple Attolian soldiers before being stabbed himself, and at 18, once he is king of Attolia, he defeats Teleus, the captain of the Queen's Guard, two squad leaders (Costis and Aris), Aris' entire squad, and Laecdomon, a soldier who challenges him, despite being sleep-deprived and hungover. Most impressive, however, is that he performs this feat with one hand. However, it is a recurring joke that Eugenides is a poor horseman; while he is capable of riding, he dislikes horses and riding and tends to avoid it. Famous Quotes Unless otherwise noted, all page numbers are from the Greenwillow paperback editions of the books. The Thief *"I can steal anything." p11 *(narration) "...with coaching he could probably chop up a straw man, but the younger one looked completely useless." p28 *(narration) "I could be a convenient sort of milemarker, I thought. Get to the thief and you know you are halfway to Methana." p30 *﻿"A cart - you know, a large wooden box on wheels, pulled by a horse." p50 *(narration) "It had been a profesional risk, but there was no point in saying so." p58 & 59 *"Do you mean," I squawked, "that we are out here in the dark looking for something from a fairy tale?" p71 *"Things," I hissed, "don't make noise." p209 *"They had a cart." p220 *"I think," I said stiffly, "that I am more of an asset than a liability." p237 *"Would you shut up?" p239 *"Stop biting your lip, and say it." p280 *I smiled. "Do you want the king's seal? I can get that for you." p10 The Queen of Attolia *"What earrings?" p50 *"It's the queen's library. I just live here." p58 *"I ate the ceremonial bread in the temple." p80 *"I'll stop shouting. I won't sit down. I might need to throw more inkpots." p87 *"All right, what do you want a useless one-handed Thief for?" p88 *"You sound like the chorus in a play." p104 *"I can steal anything." Eugenides corrected. "Even with one hand." *"...I don't want the clouds to part and Moira to arrive on a band of sunlight to tell me to shut up..." p170 *"I love stupid plans." p219 *"Calf love doesn't usually survive amputation, Your Majesty." p248 *"Nothing is going to save my skin." p267 *"I told her I'd alread been hunted in Attolia, thank you very much." p337 *"Have I offended the gods?... and if I have offended the gods, then why didn't I fall?" p394 *" Did you start a war in my name without telling me!?" The King of Attolia *"Is this some Attolian ritual that I am unaware of? Was I supposed to defend myself?" p6 *"Lilies, I rule heads, you do." p74 *"Oh, the trip would be quicker than you think. Most of my male cousins are dead." p94 *"You didn't startle me. You scared the hell out of me." p177 *"It is... too... deep!" p181 (referring to a near-fatal wound from an assassination attempt) *"I CAN DO ANYTHING I WANT!" p250 *"Ornon says, Ornon-who-always-had-something-to-say says, the Thieves of Eddis don't have breaking points. We have flash points instead, like gunpowder. That's what makes us dangerous." p288 *"Give me back my wine." p339 *"...what may look completely stupid to you is merely a demonstration of my faith." p339 *"I am omniscient, I know everything." p341 *"If I tried now, I'd probably eviscerate myself when I landed." p343 *"Do you know, it's the first time I've been caught in something I can't get out of?" p344 *"I am beginning to sense a certain amoung of fraud in the reports of poets..." p346 *"No 'Glory will be your reward' for me. Oh no, for me, it is, 'Stop Whining' and 'Go To Bed' ". p347 *"Safety is an illusion." p349 *"Don't...lower...the...point...in...third!" p358 *"You forgot that it's a wooden sword." p374 *"I want my breakfast." p374 The Conspiracy of Kings * Category:Characters Category:People Category:Eddis Category:Attolia Category:Eugenides